Review: Namaste Kitchen is the best place you can eat in Reading

I've just looked back at the pictures of my meal at Namaste Kitchen and, while the food is far from pretty, my mouth is already watering.

I can honestly say this is the best meal I've eaten in Reading.

My husband and I visited on a Wednesday evening, just as it was starting to snow so it was bitterly cold outside and we needed some warming up.

Despite glowing reviews from Edible Reading, I was slightly alarmed by how empty it was. Based inside The Hook and Tackle in Katesgrove Lane, Reading, Berkshire, there was just one other group sitting at a table drinking beer, none of them were eating.

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I like to prepare so I'd already looked at the offering online but still hadn't the foggiest what to order from the Nepalese and Newari menu, that's when one of the owners, Kamal, came over.

No one knows the menu better than the guy who put it together so we placed all our trust in Kamal. Asking us how hungry we were and how spicy we liked our food - very and very - he named four dishes and headed off to the kitchen. This was the kind of service I'd been looking for when we visited The SOJU earlier in the year.

The dishes came when they were ready, rather than all together, which we were more than happy with and began tucking into our first dish - a generous portion of piroo aloo (£3.50). The spicy potato dish was warm with layers upon layers of complex flavours, sending my palete into overdrive with sweet, hot and finally smoky tastes. For such an unassuming looking plate of food, it sure packed a punch.

Chilli chicken and piroo aloo. Credit: getreading

Next was the chilli chicken off the bone (£7), another hearty helping. The pieces of meat were smothered in a deep red paste which was fiery with the heat of the chillies. Tomatoes, peppers and onions added a freshness that made the flavours come alive. We both agreed, if we had space to order anything else once we were done, we were getting more of this.

We used the mutton and egg bara (£5) to mop up the remaining sauce. From the way it looked we were expecting the pancake, made of black lentils, to be quite stodgy but it was actually light as air, and absolutely delicious dipped in the sweet, garlicky sauce that sat alongside it too.

Finally, and the dish we'd most been looking forward too, were the pan-fried pork momo (£6). The huge serving of little dumplings were just lightly crisp on the outside and filled with juicy pork with the slightest taste of ginger running through.

Mutton and egg bara. Credit: getreading

We were astounded by the quality of this delicious food and blown away by how helpful and kind Kamal was. He spent a long time after our meal telling us about his history, working in several restaurants around Reading before returning home to Nepal where he started his own business. When his children grew older he moved back to Reading with his family and has been running Namaste Kitchen with his business partners ever since.

His attitude to his business was also endearing, not allowing us to order too much so we wouldn't end up wasting food. He said he would rather we ordered more later and return again wanting more, than pay him for food we wouldn't eat, which we thought was admirable.

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And when the bill came we were even happier, less than £30 for the most brilliant food we had eaten in Reading, as well as a glass of red wine and a beer.

I would encourage everyone to try Namaste Kitchen, from the looks of things it doesn't get that much business and it would be a travesty to lose this delicious food. And don't be afraid of trying something a little out of your comfort zone, I have a feeling Kamal would still be able to work out the perfect meal for you.